Baten Kaitos: Bloodied hands
by Arimadios
Summary: When liquor intereferes with one boy's judgement, he awaken's one girl's talent. Will her new wings carry her on to new horizons with new friends, or simply be furled up as she studies? Rated for Possible Citrus, Graphic descriptions, and extreme violence


Hello. Arimadios here, back for some more. I know, I know, you guys want me to finish some of my other fics. Don't worry; they're in the process of being written. However, due to the nature of my other fanficcys, being based in worlds with very little breathing room per say, IE: A complete butchering of the Teen Titans Universe, A Retelling (as well as a butchering of characters) of the FE7 world, and an utter butchering of the Ocarina of Time, I don't have space to fit in one OC.

Crim. The OC who stole my heart like the little criminal she is. Crim, or, as her full name states, Crimson Faye Rose. Prepare to witness yet more butchering at the hands of Arimadios, butcher extraordinaire!

Disclaimer: I in no way own Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean, Kalas, Xelha, Gibari, Mizuti, Lyude, Savyna, Namco, Monolith Soft, Tri-crescendo, or any other single entity making up the team that Developed this wonderful game, the Game it's self, the concept of the world, or anything else relating to this game. This Disclaimer is in effect for the entirety of this Fiction prose.

Disclaimer: Crimson 'Crim' Faye Rose is my Intellectual Property. Technically, it means she's Copy written, but I'm not one for technicalities. Please, if you wish to use Crimson 'Crim' Faye Rose in ANY fan fiction, article, or even make a Fan site about her, please E-mail me, and Request it. I really really REALLY like this OC, and I don't want her copied too liberously. This Disclaimer is in effect for the entirety of this Fiction prose.

Thank you, for your time, Attention, and Patience. Without further adieu, I introduce to you, this piece of prose fiction.

Baten Kaitos: Bloodied hands.

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Crimson sat in the principal's office. She was going to school in Pherkad, and she was born in Cebalrai. Still, even in a place where wings of the heart were so utterly commonplace that ones without were considered outsiders, not many had wings as strange as hers.

The principal looked down at Crim. She was so utterly innocent looking. Save for two very unnerving details about her. Her hair was the color of freshly spilled blood. The exact color. The blackened crimson locks were enough to make many either flee in terror or insult her. Second and most unnervingly, were her eyes. The irises were a rose red color, with ebony strips to be seen within.

These two factors combined created a young lady of sixteen years who looked the part of a 'vampyre' you heard of in children's horror stories. This was not her fault, but a result of genetics. The Faye's blood in her veins made her eyes that red, and the Rose blood in her made her hair so exotic, almost.

He had to struggle not to be intoxicated by her. Her flesh was well tanned from living her early life in Cebalrai, and she never seemed to lose it. Another Faye trait, he supposed, as he saw her father, Valience Burton Faye walk into the office. Her mother, who followed quickly, had the same figure minus the definition of her muscles. The Rose body, as it was called, was so curvy it was almost angular and sickly, but oh so luscious. The principal picked his tongue up off the floor as the meeting was begun.

"Mister Faye. I'm sorry to drag you away from the mountain harvest for this."

"It's quite alright, Principal Lash. The messenger didn't say much about this, other than my daughter's parents were requested at the academy."

Mrs. Rose took the opportunity. "CRIM! What have you done, girl! Have you defaced school property, have you beaten another kid? What, I ask, have you done. The pows aren't going to milk themselves!"

Crim shrank even further into herself. "… Sorry … "was all she said as she blinked away a tear.

Mr. Lash looked at Crim with a frown. "This may sound… odd, but I'm sure you're aware that this is a mostly male school…"

Mr. and Mrs. Faye-rose looked at the principal with pure shock in their eyes.

"And, I'm afraid; most of them are teenagers… This is a hard thing to say, but I had to expel one of our best students, because of your daughter… No harm came to her, but, it was close… I've heard Crimson's side, and the boys. I've talked to numerous students, and quite a few instructors to learn about it more, because these are heavy accusations. Crimson's story was upheld in every account given, except by the boy and his friends."

"From what I can gather, this is what happened…"

Start of the school day.

Crimson walked quietly towards her locker, and turned the dial on her Pad lock. There was a firm, open palmed slap on her ass. With a start, she turned, holding her book to her chest, prepared to call her wings if need be. Not that she even knew how, or had ever done it before.

Thomas, the school's resident bully, lech, and jock lord, looked at the girl with hungry eyes. She was pressed against the locker, staring at him with something between loathing and fear in her eyes. He smiled. "Crim, why won't you go out with me?"

Her eyes instantly hardened. "This old horse? Stop beating a dead horse, and go eat shit. I won't go out with you." She turned quickly, and began turning her padlock's dial again.

BAM! The sharp sound of his fist slamming the locker beside her head drew her up short. She felt his breath on her ear, and smelled the faint trace of liquor. "I'll have you, one way or the other girl, so you better take it the easy way."

She undid the lock on her locker slowly, and put her book back inside the metal cabinet, before withdrawing her deck of Magnus slowly. She also pulled out her history book, since her home-room and her first period were in the same room. She closed the locker, and put the lock back on, before turning to walk away, finding that another hand had found it's way to her other side. She could feel his breath on the back of her neck, and almost his hips against her body.

She turned around, and unfortunately, this is how the first instructor saw them. Her with a book over her chest, and her right foot on the locker, looking the part of a pair of teenagers in love.

When the instructor was out of sight, he smiled. "Lookey there, we already have a fan club. Don't we look so perfect together? See you in Gym…" he smiled, and licked his upper lip, before walking away with a strut. He stumbled a little, about eight paces away, but kept strutting.

Crim nearly hyperventilated as she refused to cry. He was going to rape her if she didn't submit to him? This was not going to be a good day…

She had to get some fresh air. She continued down the hall, and stepped into the door of her home-room, and she was in school at an excessively early time, nearly six fifteen, when school didn't star until seven fifteen. Usually, her teacher, Mister Albrecht, would talk to her while she worked with her Magnus deck.

He saw the look on her face. "What's the matter Criminal?" He said, using the friendly nickname that usually made her smile.

She didn't. She just looked at him with a look of fear in her eyes. "I… I just don't feel well is all. I need to get some fresh air." He looked at her calmly. "Hand over your Magnus deck, and you can get as much as you want till eight. I still expect you to be here for History. I may be your friend, but I'm still your instructor. You're excused from Magnus work today."

She nodded quietly. "Thanks." And she stepped out of the classroom, before making a mad dash for the door. She walked into the woods near the Academy of Magnus, and sat down against a tree. The teachers all liked her, and most of the students didn't hate her, but she was still a loner. She inhaled tightly, and gasped as a sob rocked her body. She had never been frightened this badly before, even when those Shawra had attacked her. But this wasn't a Forest Beast.

This was a teenage male with physical strength three times as much as her, who was obviously drunk, and had a good amount of skill with his Magnus deck. His family was rich, and could afford imported Magnus of great strength, too. He could also call his wings. Twin, feathery bastions of blue.

She gulped. How was she supposed to hold him off? None of her attack Magnus had materialized a weapon to date, nor had her armor Magnus. Her healing Magnus came well enough.

Her teacher always said it was because she didn't carry a weapon, and hadn't materialized her wings yet. Her Magnus were also low level, he said. She shuddered. She wasn't afraid of most anything. But this boy, Thomas, scared her witless.

This was the part she had told no-one, and that no-one had seen. A guardian spirit, slumbered quietly in the tree. Hearing a choked sob of frustration, he cracked an eye. That girl; the one who had come to his tree whenever she felt cornered. Whenever she felt alone, stressed, scared, or just plain bad, she came to this tree. As much as a spirit could, he draped himself over the limb, looking down at the girl. Raziel raised a brow. She had never, ever cried when at this tree, and this was where she went after her boyfriend of three years had broken up with her and moved away.

She sobbed with all her might, letting ten years worth of tears erupt, all the while, berating herself for crying like this. She shouldn't cry, she was strong, independent, and brave. She could fight off a shawra with her hands, but one… BOY was doing this too her? Making her weep like she was an infant with no food?

Raziel couldn't take it anymore. He had frequently thought of bonding with her, knowing she was a friendly girl, who had her share of troubles in the world. But he had always thought his talents would go to waste. That she would never be a warrior, or anyone that needed guarding. But something seemed different. Her aura was… wanting. It was wavering, crying out for attention like some sickly child with no family.

She finally stopped crying. She inhaled deeply, and then exhaled just as much, if not more. "He won't do this…" She clenched her fist, raising Raziel's eyebrow. "He won't make… a puppet out of me!"

He suddenly floated down in his ephemeral state, staring into her eyes. He saw hurt, fear, and even terror deep within them. But he also saw something else, something that sparked his curiosity. A fire, burning so bright and deadly that it would consume the forest in a moment's notice, if left unchecked. She looked right into his face without realizing it, and nodded. "Yes. I'll fight him. I'll fight him with every ounce of strength I have in me. I'll show him I'm not just some toy he can have his way with."

Raziel was stunned. Someone was pressuring this girl? Raziel felt something he had not felt in years well up within him. An ember of a time long past. When he had died at the hands of those beasts in Mira's forests, trying to rescue his little girl, he hadn't passed on. He hadn't even realized he was dead until his attacks passed right through his foes. He found his little girl, sixteen years old, maybe as old as the girl he saw in front of his face, raped and dead at the hands of some blue skinned freak. He was grinning madly, and seemed so… satisfied with his work. Nektor was his resting place, and it was his daughter's. He just prayed she had moved on, without much pain, though by the look on her face… there was no such luck.

He was… enraged. That was the only way to put it. Such unbridled, pure, unadulterated RAGE filled him. For a year, he would float from island to island, looking for something, ANYTHING he could touch and kill. For the past year, he had sat in that tree, cooling his jets, and thinking over his new existence. He found that the more he thought, the more he realized he KNEW about being what he now was.

He found that there were two kinds of guardian spirits. Those that came from another world with some divine purpose, and those born of the profound NEED to do something, to protect someone, even if from beyond the grave. He was the latter, but he still could not have completed his purpose. His daughter was no fighter.

He strained quietly. He willed himself to be visible to this girl. His eyes opened to see hers with a questioning look. Like she was not sure she saw something.

Crim was… worried. She almost thought she saw a black winged man appear before her, and then vanish so quickly it was not even there. She saw it again. This time less physical, more ethereal, but definitely there. It floated quietly, eyes open and looking at the man she saw. She gulped, and timidly opened her drying mouth. "Hello?" the voice was but a squeak.

"Hi." She heard from the entity before her. Instead of her ears hearing it, it resonated much deeper within her, almost like she was hearing with her very soul.

"Holy shit… I'm not seeing things!"

"No, unless you count an incorporeal animate object as a thing, you're not."

The dry humor cracking through the voice sent shivers down her spine as she laughed in a lock-jaw manner, almost more of a quick yelping sigh than a laugh. The sheer weight of the situation was far outweighing the humor of him. "… What are you?"

"Me? I'm a Guardian Spirit."

"I've read about those in my books. Beings from another world, drawn here by someone, and bound to their soul…"

"Then I'm not your garden variety."

The lock-jaw humor again. His wit was very dry, almost like he was afraid to approach the subject.

"What're you doing here? Why aren't you in Nektor?"

"I was there once… I don't ever want to go back."

She had struck a nerve, and quickly back peddled. "I see… can I ask you something?"

"If you want."

"Can… you see the future?"

"No, but I'm a blatant observer of the obvious. You've been sitting at my tree for the past seven months now. And you always seemed so down when you were here, but always slowly perked up."

She blushed slightly. "How… much did you see?"

"Only what can be seen with the naked eye from twenty feet above you."

"Oh… So you… heard me just then?"

"Yes, yes I did. Now, that's why I came down here. You seem to be… scared of something."

She gulped. He continued to speak. "You've never ever been scared at my tree. You've never even been too worried. What in the world could scare you so bad that you make a promise to yourself that you will fight someone?"

She nearly collapsed against the tree. "You… you… can you help me?" Was all she said.

"Help you what? Look, darlin, you're going to have to be more elaborate here. I can play connect the dots all day, but I don't like guessing games, and I don't speak before I know."

The dry humor again. He was trying to bring her out of her funk. She looked at her watch. Six thirty-three. She looked back at the spirit. "Here goes…" She said quietly before looking at him with a bit of fire in her eyes as she nodded. "There's this boy, see… He's been cutting eyes at me ever since Arland left…"

He nodded quietly, connecting dot number 3 to dot number zero. Arland was zero, and her being at the tree was number three. One two and four were still unconnected though. "Go on."

"Well… today, he came up to my locker… and slapped me on my but, and then asked me out again. Normally, I would have said yes but… Arland is still too…" She trailed off. No dots for him to connect. "Keep going." He said simply.

"Anyway, I told him no, but her punched the locker behind me, and said I could go out with him, or he would just take what he wanted…."

He made the connections. Arland left, the boy saw a beautiful girl without an attachment, and he threatened her after making lewd comments and cutting those kinds of eyes at her. Dot number four was still left unconnected, though. Why she was so certain he would try and get her, was still floating…"So why are you so adamant about fighting him?"

"Because… he was drunk…"

It all fell into place with that. He nodded to himself. "I think I know all I need to know. You wanted my help, you've got it. He's going to bleed, I can tell you that."

She looked at the spirit with befuddled eyes. "What?"

"Relax. This may feel weird, but I'm going to bond with you, on one condition…"

"What is it?"

"That we get into a few scraps along the way."

He was appealing to the side of her that loved mischief. She had always been a back door trouble maker. "Defamation of school property, the random catfight in the girl's locker room, and the secret forays to the local bar?"

He looked at her with an amazingly stupid look. "I never thought you the type."

"There are a lot of things you don't know about me."

"Relax then, because I'm coming in."

Relax she did. Of course, it was weird when he walked INTO her body, being quite tall and decidedly broader than her. It was weirder still when she felt… his presence, looming over her, and even more so when she almost heard an audible clicking sound, almost like he was leashed to her now. "Whoa…" she said as her vision blurred…

She passed out, and for some reason, so did Raziel.

They woke up at the sound of the loud bell, and she nearly screamed. "OHMIGOD! I fell asleep! ... But that dream was so weird."

"Wasn't a dream, darlin."

With a screech, she looked around. "Who said that!"

"It was me, duh."

She stopped dead as she saw him plain as day, but could also see THROUGH him. A handsome man with chiseled features, a broad chest, and two black wings erupting from his back. He couldn't be more than twenty six years old. "So… it wasn't a dream?"

"Nope. I'm right here, plain as day, I expect."

She nodded slowly as comprehension sank in. She was bonded to a guardian spirit. She doubted one had ever looked like this. And she doubted further still that that little bastard Thomas would escape. "Wow…"

"Yeah, it's weird… I kind of feel like I can move with you, but not move you. I can almost feel the wind again. Like we're sharing the body, but not the minds or souls, and you still control it all."

She grabbed a hold of her hip, and he raised an eyebrow. "Well that's new." He said, looking at his hand.

She gulped. "Oh gods!" She blushed deeply, as a naughty thought passed through her mind… this guy would be watching when she took a bathroom break, when she had to do something about being so lonely… everything. He would FEEL it too.

"This is kind of… Cool." He said, smirking lightly.

"Speak for yourself! A guy you barely know can feel everything you do? This wasn't part of the deal!"

"Hey, I'm new to this too, okay!"

She growled as she felt the heat rising in her cheeks.

He suddenly connected the dots in his head, before paling. "WOAH! Slow down girl, I'll find a way to keep from feeling EVERYTHING you do. And I CAN look away you know."

She sighed with relief. "Wow… that's a load off!"

She glanced at her watch. "Oh shit! I'm going to be late for home room!"

He raised his eyebrow. "Home room?" She dashed through him, and he looked after her, raising his hand to his head. "What in the wo-URK!"

He was suddenly jerked along after the girl, exactly like he had a leash on his hips.

This was where the rest of the stories picked up. She had come back to class, and exhibited even more aptitude with her Magnus, though she seemed a bit angry on more than one occasion throughout the class, and was heard mumbling 'shut the h-word up' a time or two.

School proceeded as normal, until Gym. She was blushing like a banshee the whole time while she changed out.

Another part she didn't tell anyone. Raziel was hiding inside her gym locker. "Oh jeeze… I shouldn't be in here! I mean come on, I'm a guy! Guys don't go in the girl's Locker room!"

"Shut up!" she seethed as she took off her shirt after making sure he was looking directly into the wall. "You can't be serious! You can't tell me you haven't seen a girl in her underwear before?"

"I have, but the setting was more intimate, and I had flesh. But apparently, flesh has nothing to do with the male reaction!"

She blushed deeply as she yanked on her shirt before pulling off her skirt and grabbing her gym-shorts. "I didn't need to know that, Raz!" She looked over at the girl beside her who was giving her strange looks. "Sorry, I was just muttering some lines from a play I'm writing!" she smiled geekily.

The girl rolled her eyes and slammed her locker. Crim sighed, and yanked on her shorts as she listened to Raziel mutter some more. "Crim, come on… why does my leash have to be so short? I can't even step outside here! Surely I'm not going to be in this locker for the rest of the ten minutes it takes you to change!"

She pulled on her shoes, and tucked her shirt into the shorts. "You can look now, if you don't mind seeing other girls in their bikini suits."

He smiled and stepped out of the locker. She shut the door, and finished lacing up her running sandals.

"Most males would be in heaven. Here I am, kid in the candy store, and I haven't even got a penny to my name, so to speak."

"Lecher."

"Tease."

The story was collaborated from here on. Up till the point she walked back from Gym to the main building, she was surrounded by people, and not vulnerable.

However, this was the situation where it happened. She was walking back from Gym-class, and was all alone. Suddenly, she was slammed up against the fence. "Heya girly. Looks like you're not going to get away this time!"

He put his hand over her mouth and put all his weight on her. Raziel was screaming in rage, even as he unzipped his pants.

For about five seconds she blacked out. When she came too, he was down on the ground, looking at her in horror. She felt something weird coming out of her shoulder blade area, and again on her lower back. Even on her head. Her fingers and feet felt different too.

"What's the matter tough guy?" She said confidently. Raziel was in stunned silence too. She had kneed him square in the balls with enough force to draw out a cough of blood, and then licked it off of her hand. The wings, the tail, the claws, the talons (as far as he could tell, that's what came off of her feet.) and the horns made her look all of an ancient Demon. Every appendage, blood red and leathery, except for the horns and claws which were a black color so dark he had difficultly believing they were organic.

Thomas was looking up in fright. She was standing in front of him, with an eight or nine foot wingspan, a long, strong looking spaded tail almost four foot long, arms that had a slightly leathery covering up to the elbow, almost like gloves, and a claw on each finger, sharp enough to sheer steel. Twin black horns erupted form just out of square over her eyes, where her high hairline began in the corners, curving back over her skull, until ending in points behind her head. He ventured a guess that her feet, were the same as her arms up to her knees.

"I asked, what's the matter?"

"Y-y-you're a freak! A monster!"

"Aw, and I thought you wanted to make me yours. Here I thought I was special… guess not… but I'm still in the mood for fun…"

Marie, one of Crim's friends was watching it all; she had run to the scene of the scream of pain when she heard it. The Magic instructor was watching as well, along with the entire magic class. It had witnesses.

She grabbed hold of his shirt as he tried to run, even sprouting his blue feathery wings. Seeing the new handhold, she grabbed onto him, and snarled. "I said I'm not done! You want to rape me, well guess what, I'm not! EASY! PREY!" he screeched as she pulled her feet up, preparing to kick him full and square in the back, and break his wings.

And break they did, right off his back as her taloned toes ripped into the meat of his back, eliciting a scream of pain. There was a sickening crunch as she felt his wings give way, and with a movement of her feet, she cut the skin from around them and with a crack and a wet slopping sound, they pulled clean off.

Raziel was moving in a flash. "WOAH! Crim! Snap out of it!"

She was in a complete bloodlust as she threw the wings down and grabbed his hair, pulling back, and smashing downwards into the hard packed dirt of the walkway. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and looked back, and saw Raziel, who looked pale. She suddenly realized what she had just done. "Oh god!" She said as she jumped back, and looked at Thomas. She saw the blood, she saw the wings, and she promptly turned, throwing up everywhere.

Shortly after, she was taken to the infirmary, while the healers of the Academy worked on Thomas. She looked in the mirror, slightly admiring herself, but also frightened by what she had become. The nurse told her how to turn 'off' her wings so to speak, and she did, and learned how to turn them back 'on' again… She practiced it until she had it down. Then she was called to the principal's office.

"That's the story, or so I hear… The boy is in critical condition, and will be placed under arrest pending survival…"

Crim pulled her legs closer and started to rock in her seat. Her father spoke up. "We'll take her out of school. It'll probably be better for her in Diadem or Anuenue."

Mr. Lash nodded. "More than likely. I've already done up the paperwork. She's booked on the next flight to Diadem as well. It departs in two hours… Pack your things, Crim, you're going to Nashira, then too Sheliak."

So that's how she ended up onboard this ship, bound for Diadem, land of the Clouds. She sat across from a boy with blue hair, and a winglet. At his side was a Girl with blond hair, and a greythorne in her Hood. She could see the guardian spirit at his shoulder.

The blond spoke first. "Hello there."

She smiled shyly. "Hi…"

"What're you going to Diadem for?"

"There was… some Trouble in Pherkad."

The blue-haired boy's eyebrow rose strangely, and he looked over at the blonde. "Really now?" he said.

She nodded quietly. "I… might have killed someone."

"What do you mean 'might have'!" the blond asked.

"I don't know! He was going to rape me, and I blacked out for a second, and when I woke up, he was running away, and I jumped on him and… and… and I ripped his wings off…"

They both paled. "Holy shit…" the mister blue said. "You must have really hated him…"

"He… he was drunk, and he had been giving me looks…" she sniffed, and despite Raziel's attempt at comforting her, she was inconsolable. "Calm down, Crim. Stop crying…" Raziel said. That's when the two looked right at him.

"You have a guardian spirit!"

They said it in unison, causing Raziel and Crim to look right at them. "Uhm… yes… he just bonded… with me today…"

She pawed lightly at her Magnus, before one fell out. She was always embarrassed about her deck, so she dived for it, but stopped mid dive.

There, looking her right in the face was a chronos Magnus. It had the picture of a leopard on it, though it was more or less an art-piece. It had a small one drawn on it, inside of a black circle. The girl looked at it…

"A finisher Magnus?"

Crim shrugged. "I… don't know. I've never had pictures on my weapon and armor Magnus before… today was the first time I got in a fight…"

The blond picked it up, before staring at it. "It's called the Leopard strike. A Series of attacks that tear the target asunder."

"Oh…" She pulled the rest of her deck, 24 strong, from her pouch. She began thumbing through it. "Chronos Claw, Flashing Talon, and these… ripping claws and sundering talons… And here, these, Leather flesh, and hardened horns…"

She took the finisher Magnus back from the blonde when she held it out.

The blue-haired boy looked at Crim's deck. "Kind of small, isn't it?"

She blushed lightly, even as Raziel looked closely at the cards. "Yeah… I can't afford much… my parents were farmers living near Moonguile, close to Cebalrai."

The pair smiled. "I'm Kalas." The blue hair said. "And I'm Xelha." Said the blonde. At a squeak from the greythorne, she giggled. "And this is Meemai." Kalas smiled. "She may have the Greythorne, but I have a Guardian spirit too. Sheba, say Hi."

The female spirit materialized, well, as much as she could, and waved shyly at the Crim. Crim smiled genuinely, and waved back. "Hello, Sheba."

"I'm Crimson Faye Rose, but just call me Crim. This is Raziel." Raziel waved a bit, looking closely at Sheba. "That guardian spirit reminds me of someone…" he shook his head. "Nah, Couldn't be."

They left that comment lay where it was, thrown out by Raziel himself. But he still couldn't help but think.

"So, where exactly are you two bound?"

"We're headed for Sheliak; we need to meet with King Ladekahn."

"I'm going to Sheliak as well. I've been transferred… I used to go to the Academy of Magnus Studies for the Magically Gifted." She giggled. "I excelled at Arcana Studies, Practical Black Magic, and World History." She grinned like a true geek as she put a hand to the back of her neck. "I was average in Magnus Practice and Magnus Studies. Practical White Magic was my bane though…"

Kalas smirked. "Real magic isn't warrior magic. It's all lights and curses. Not something that you would actually use in battle." Crim nodded quietly as Xehla spoke up. "I wouldn't bet on much else but my Magnus deck, myself."

"What kind of Focus do you carry?"

"A focus? Oh! I heard about those in MS! But… I don't really have one."

"What? Oh man, you're such a newbie!" Xelha punched him in the arm, a bit harder than necessary. He grabbed his arm and rubbed it, glaring at the girl. "He means that you're new to being able to use Battle Magnus."

"Your focus doesn't necessarily have to be tied to your Magnus at all. It also serves as a type of armor. For example, Kalas uses enchanted belt buckles, and I use magical Anklets."

She nodded at Xelha, and wound up her wrist-watch. Kalas looked at it coolly. "That must be something from the empire, I thought you were poor?"

She smiled. "Oh, I paint in my off time." She smiled. "A Woman named Vallye was in Pherkad one day about a year ago, and I couldn't help it, I painted a picture of her as she sat by a window in Lord Rodolfo's Mansion. She saw it, and gasped. It was a truly beautiful painting. She offered to buy it with cash, but… I saw her watch, and traded for it."

"Wow. Very nice. It's a beautiful thing… what exactly does it do?" Xelha was intrigued. Kalas was also curious, but managed to keep a tight lip.

"Well, you have to wind it up, but a spring makes these hands turn. They correspond to the time. The smallest hand tells you what hour it is. The longer one says the minute, and the quickest tells the second. I've worn it so long, that may be why my deck came with chronos cards."

Kalas nodded. "Well, they say Blank battle Magnus respond to duress, and the weapon you have with you. But still, those are still rare to find. Blank battle Magnus are also prone to grow with the person."

She smiled. "I know."

Xelha smiled. "Have you ever been to the church?"

"The Church? No…"

"Ah… well, it probably wouldn't have opened its doors to you yet. How about you travel with me to Sheliak?"

She smiled at Xelha. "That would be wonderful!" She grinned like a Cheshire cat, and Kalas couldn't help but muffle a laugh as he imagined her Meowing holding up a paw to her kitty ears and making a quick swipe. The rest of the ride was uneventful, as even Sheba got drawn into the girlish talk, while Kalas and Raziel sat across from each other and rolled their eyes heavily.

Nashira was quiet. And it smelled like fish. And Water. But mostly fish. The subtle sounds of the fishing village made her smile.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye, Kalas." Crimson said.

"Hold on Crim, I think Kalas should come with us. I Doubt what he's looking for will be here, and also, we might need his help. He's good with a sword."

"You have a point Xelha… alright, I'll go with. Besides, it's a long walk to Sheliak."

They stepped back into town with defeated looks on their faces. One could almost see the comical sweat drop beading beside their eyes, with the darkness covering those eyes caused by their bangs. "The river… is Flooded." They said it together, and sighed simultaneously. "I'll be late for my first class…"

"I'll be unable to speak with King Ladekahn."

"I won't be able to find Giacomo."

Sheba spoke up next. "Guys, I'm sorry, but I need to rest…"

"Oh, that's okay Sheba. We'll go to the flower so you can get some rest." Kalas spoke to his spirit in a low voice. They all walked towards the normally small blue flower, which seemed to grow to accommodate them all as it opened. Crim gulped as she stepped in.

"Well, we should visit the church first."

"Yes, that would most likely be the best." Sheba said as the flower closed up around them. Crim eeped. "I don't like the dark!"

"Don't worry…" Kalas said as the flower opened again, revealing a huge cathedral. A massive blank spot with a few stars was seated in the roof, and she followed the Duo down to the man. He smiled. "Ah, did you bring anymore constellation Magnus?"

"Yup. Here, stick 'em up there, old man!" Kalas said.

The old man smiled, and did so, watching the magna essence of the starlight erupt onto the ceiling. After a moment, he smiled. "So much is restored. So very much… I was going to give you some gifts, but, I have an extra one, for your new companion."

"Your aura is dark, but laced with light. I can see potential for both light and dark within you. Take this. This Magnus contains an artifact I unearthed long ago, beneath Canis Major's lights in the night sky. It is the talon of a Demon, long lost and ancient." He smiled and put the card in her hand. "And take these as well. These old bones can no longer use them."

She blushed as he put the talon Magnus in one hand, and five Magnus that were blank in the other. Slowly but surely, two gained a green background, two a white, and the final grew a normal background. Two Chronos claws, two Flashing talons, and a new weapon she had not seen. "Strangling tail…" She muttered at the Magnus. She shook her head. "I thank you, sir."

He nodded. "Go, and help these two do what they set out too."

She nodded, and followed Kalas and Xelha to the altar. She smiled faintly at the priest. "Hand me that Magnus, girl…"

She paled, before handing over the Talon. He looked at it and nodded. "Summon your wings, girl. This won't take long."

Xelha poked Kalas as they looked at Crim, who blushed. "I'm… not very good at calling them…"

"Girl, I don't care if you call an extra tuft of thatch, I just want you to call your wings!"

She nodded, and call them she did.

It seemed almost like a bright white fire erupted form her flesh as she felt time almost skipping along within her body. From within the flames of her Aura, they could see her changing. Twin spires of magma erupted form her head, red hot and molten as they moved over her skull and raised a bit, forming her horns. Blood seemed to stream out of her back as the wings and tail formed. Her finger tips became molten as claws erupted, and so did her now bare feet. It looked like her arms were bleeding as the flesh turned ashen grey, before reddening, and becoming tough like leather.

The priest nodded. "Something between a Demon and a Dragon, if I was any judge of wings, and I am. This talon will allow you to carry an attack longer, and even increase the number of Magna Essences your wings can handle in one load. Your deck is converted into Magna essence, and your wings, or your weapon, will remember the essences, allowing you to call those which it remembers to you. You will know the spirit numbers of the cards, the so called 'Magna Strength' of their Essence. Once they have fully responded to your wings, they will be visible to your naked eye, wings or no."

She nodded quietly, taking it all in. "So… this is the way a Warrior uses Magnus?"

"Exactly. Are you prepared to expand your wings? Are you ready to take flight, to know what it is to be what you are?"

"Yes!" she responded with absolute certainty.

He nodded. He placed a hand on her head, and shouted at the top of his lungs. "Oh great Whale, if you can hear our voices, Bless this child of the light with your song, and grant her wings strength to carry more weight, to give her strength beyond her own!"

She felt… Lighter, stronger better. She felt like a million bucks, but also like she was ready to lose it all, if need be. "Great Whale, Forgive us for our Folly, and sing the songs that you must, but grant this child the Magna Carta! Make her strong, and make her better than she is! I pray this to you, Great whale! Amen!"

She felt like a thousand stories poured through her mind as her wings took in her Magnus deck. She eeped, even as she felt the memories of these come to her. The claws of Chronos, the Talons of Indra, even her own natural weaponry. She gasped, even as he continued to pray, over all three of them now.

"Great whale, you have seen the exploits of these children of your will. Bless them, and make their Bodies, Minds, and Souls stronger with your song. Make them feel the Blessings of your presence, oh great whale!"

The two beside her inhaled deeply, and she found herself doing so as well. The air smelled like… Cinnamon and Lavender. She couldn't quite place why, but it felt natural to say "Amen." In chorus with the preacher. She felt stronger, her muscles felt like they had been through an all week workout session for three weeks straight, and never once did they feel pain, but grew even so. Her flesh like a fresh layer of stone had been grafted into it, her heart, like it could pump once a minute and still have her at the top of her game. She even felt lither, faster, almost like a cat, ready to pounce.

She stood up with the others and smiled. "Thank you." The priest held up a hand, and dug into his pocket. "Here, take this." He handed her two Magnus. One was a picture of an old bracelet type thing. She looked at it strangely as it glowed, and she felt something on her arm. "That is your Focus. A bangle for your arm." The other looked like a Lion's maw, gaping wide. "And that is a gift from the last Red Dragon that was in this church. It's called the Lion's pounce." He smiled at her. "It is a finisher, with a Chronos Basis. I've seen it in action. Time slows down as the user bites into his or her opponent, drinking in the very life force of the enemy, The lost life quickly rejoins the body as the Magnus' effect ends, tossing the two apart. The life that you drink however stays with you, fortifying your body against damage."

She nodded that she understood, and hurried to the flower where Kalas and Xelha were waiting. "Well, let's let Sheba and Raziel get their Beauty rest. You never know when we might need their help in a Bad way."

Crim nodded, and powered down. She Stood in the flower, and watched as the Blackness enveloped her. She didn't like the dark one bit. But maybe her life would be more exciting now. Just maybe.

A voice loomed over the strange puddle of water with strange fruits, even as she saw a new face in the reflection of the water. "No matter how many seek to stop me, they'll never accomplish it. Beautiful white wings for you, my dear boy, and a beautiful burning world for me."

The voice was so eerily melodic that it bordered on a form of music.

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Closing notes: OOOOHHHHH! Booya! Betcha wondering EXACTLY what she wears now eh? OOOOOHHHHH! Schooled ya, eh? Boomshakalaka!

But seriously, this is the first chapter of this grand old butchering. I'll keep traveling from flower to flower, since that's an easy way to divide the chapters up. Next chapter, we meet Gibari, and talk to Lyude, that hunka-hunka Manflesh that so many fangirls scream about. I think you'll like Crim's Reaction… Cackles insanely

Muses corner

Rohan: Seriously… this guy needs to get a life…

Kai: Yeah, and he's overworking me!

Crim: Oh shut up. At least your life isn't like poor Damien's.

Damien: SHHH! I'm not even published yet!

END CHAPTER 1!


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